Last Thursday I was at the hospital again, and for a change this wasn’t another scan or another follow up appointment or consultation, which I’ve had many of since the accident.
This time I was there to visit a fellow patient. John was riding his motorbike on my birthday earlier this month when he collided with an articulating lorry and sustained some pretty bad injuries, perhaps even worse than mine.
He was treated and was taken to hospital by the London Air Ambulance. Stayed a few days in ITU and now he is up in the 12C ward, where I spent nearly two months. He’s in the bed next to the one I was in.
This was the first time I’ve visited the ward since mid-June last year. I had mostly bad memories obviously, but also some good ones.
I sat with John for an hour and a half, sharing our experiences from the accident, the helicopter flight, surgeries, drugs, pain, meltdowns and the daily routine in the ward. I also gave him some tips on what to watch when he leaves the hospital (hopefully soon) and what to expect in the months to come.
We’ve never met before but John seems like a tough and determined person and him and his wife are already making plans for fixing their house so that he can have an easy settling-in and prepare for the long recovery process.
I think that he was very encouraged to see me walking around and to hear that things are not as bad as he expects them to be. I hope this will help him cope with what’s coming and we both look forward to staying in touch as they will surely benefit from our advise going forward.
I was expecting so see some familiar faces and was actually looking forward to say hello to the nurses, however only one of those I knew was there and she didn’t remember me at all. I did stop to take a photo of the door of the room I spent 4 weeks in though.
A big thank you to Frank at the London Air Ambulance for arranging this visit. You are a remarkable person and Londoners are lucky to have you as one of the gardian angels.
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